Friend's Question about Financial Aid

[tlaktan]

A friend of mine is confused about her future financial aid situation. I'm trying to help her out, but I'm clueless in the FA division (as I've proven several times before.)

Her parents are getting a divorce. At the moment, her Expected Family Contribution is about $12,000 (about the same as me.) Her father refuses to pay for her education. Her mother has some problems with her health, and my friend doesn't want to burden her mother. She's wondering, what impact will a divorce have on the EFC?

Also, is there any way to document her father's refusal to contribute to her education?

[momofthree]

The family status changing through divorce or separation does have some impact on the EFC because fin aid offices recognize that two households have to be maintained instead of one. Therefore, the EFC may go down. However, the father will likely be expected to pay according to his ability to pay, not according his willingness to pay. If he refuses, it will be to the detriment of the friend you write about.

However, if your friend will attend a state school, some of them just look at the information from the FAFSA (and not the College Board's Profile) so they take only the information of the custodial parent into account. That is the parent the student lives with the most.

I get the impression that this is all happening now, and that your friend is going to college next year or is already in college? She should definitely contact the financial aid office of the college she is planning to attend to let them know what is taking place, if they have not already taken the separation/divorce into account. In my experience of this as a formerly single parent, (have remarried) I know that financial aid offices vary in their ways of dealing with this issue.

Best wishes to your friend!

[tlaktan]

She's headed off to USC for the next four years -- Marshall School of Business. She was accepted to UCLA but turned them down because Marshall seemed very attractive.

Thanks, momofthree!